Embattled Porter County Central Communications Executive Director Debby Gunn has agreed to stay on while the county seeks a new director.
Initially, Gunn’s resignation letter, submitted via email on July 16, stated her resignation would be effective Aug. 14, but she clearly reconsidered.
“Debby’s not going anywhere until we find a replacement,” said Porter County Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North. “She’s agreed to stay on and thank goodness.”
The county posted the executive director of public safety position on its website Monday. The salary is listed as $106,533 and the application period ends Aug. 21.
Gunn, according to the state’s public employee salary portal, made $106,697.50 last year.
Officials in Chesterton and Porter called for her resignation last year after the June 18, 2025, officer-involved shooting outside the Hilton Garden Inn in Chesterton, according to Post-Tribune archives. Gunn and Biggs said immediately following the incident that the dispatching of police after the event illustrated the need for the Chesterton/Porter Police Dispatch Center to consolidate with Porter County E-911.
Tensions erupted between Chesterton Police Chief Tim Richardson, Gunn and Biggs. Gunn contended, with call logs as evidence, there was a nearly five-minute delay in the request for an ambulance to the officer, an allegation that was staunchly denied by the town of Chesterton, the Post-Tribune has reported.
Tensions remained high between the towns and the county for most of the past year, though communications had improved and the groups were working together to foster a consolidation that began April 1 after the county forced the issue, stating it was out of compliance with the state in its role as a public safety answering point (PSAP) without the consolidation.
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There was further back and forth among the towns and county recently after the towns made it known they would be closing the Porter Chesterton Dispatch Center by Sept. 1 because only one employee would remain by then, according to Post-Tribune archives. The county responded with a letter stating it intended to stick to the Oct. 1 deadline for full consolidation, but Biggs has said the county would “make it work.”
In her letter, Gunn wrote extensively of her gratitude for being in the post.
“Serving as Executive Director has been one of the greatest professional privileges of my career,” she wrote. “I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity you entrusted to me—to lead an organization that serves as the first point of contact for thousands of citizens during their most critical moments and to support the law enforcement, fire, and EMS professionals who protect our community each day.
“While leadership inevitably brings difficult decisions and differing perspectives, I remain proud of the principles that guided every recommendation I made: protecting the safety of our dispatchers and first responders, responsibly stewarding public resources, and always placing the long-term interests of Porter County above personal or political considerations.”
Gunn gave a tally of accomplishments for the department during her tenure, including implementing Motorola PremierOne CAD, RMS, and Flex JMS into a modern, integrated platform countywide; securing $5,000 increases for all dispatchers and administrative personnel excepting herself; and being the first PSAP in Indiana to implement AI Quality Assurance software.
She ended the list by standing by the consolidation as her final significant contribution.
Most notable may be Gunn’s success in decreasing the county’s dispatcher resignation rate from 6.3 to 1.5 per year. Considerable attention was brought to the county’s former problem of spending resources to train dispatchers only to lose them once fully trained.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.